


Three Minutes

by Roses23



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: F/M, Keenler - Freeform, Lizler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-28
Updated: 2013-12-28
Packaged: 2018-01-06 11:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1106288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roses23/pseuds/Roses23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"She wasn't sure when it happened, she certainly never anticipated it, and in fact others seemed to know before she even acknowledged it herself. The fact was she was in love with Donald Ressler." Ressler/Keen</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Minutes

3 minutes.

That is how long it would take until Liz know the truth. She placed the pregnancy test down on the counter in front of her, her hands shaking slightly. She looked in the mirror in front of her and gave a small laugh to herself. It was funny she thought after years of going through the adoption process with Tom, after stating with certainty that she never wanted to have a biological child, that she, Elizabeth Keen, would potentially not be adopting a child but having a biological child of her own. She had been certain that she never wanted biological children of her own with Tom, but now circumstances had changed and here she was awaiting the results of the test.  
….  
After weeks of constant arguments with Tom which consisted mainly of her having to choose between her job and a new life in Nebraska, he had decided to move to Nebraska with the promise of her following at a later stage. However, she never fulfilled that promise she instead stayed in Washington working with FBI attempting to re-locate Red. She visited Ressler on a daily basis helping with his recuperation ensuring that he was participating in his physical rehabilitation. Ressler was truly an awful patient. He usually spent the whole time drilling her on what was happening at the Post Office version 2, namely, the manhunt for Red. The both knew that the search was pointless and that Red would only appear when he wanted to. The incident at the Post Office remained unspoken between them. She didn’t know how to breach the subject. Ressler seemed to avoid the subject every time she mentioned it but she wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t want to talk about getting shot or the fact that he gave up the code to stop her from being shot. Once Ressler was released from the hospital, she would stop by his apartment daily often with supplies and sometimes just seeking his company at the end of a long day at work. She would pass on stories from the office, people’s well wishes, but mainly she wanted to make sure that he was still alive and breathing. She would have regular nightmares where she could see him lying in the box surrounded by his own blood once more. 

She drifted away from Tom and to be honest as each day passed she felt herself caring less and less. She had never been able to trust him fully after Red had planted seeds of doubt in her mind. The job had changed her, she wasn’t the sheltered, naïve women before she started at the FBI. She still wanted the same things but she just wasn’t the same person any more.

She wasn’t surprised when she received the divorce papers in the post but that didn’t stop the tears. She didn’t turn up for work that day instead she lay in bed watching rubbish movies, tears streaming down her face until she had no tears left. When did her life start to fall apart? She just wanted to hide from the world and not have to face this head on. She didn’t visit Don that day, she couldn’t face having to tell him because that would make this real, even though she was no longer in love with Tom, the loss of her marriage was something to be grieved. How could she be so wrong about love? 

She phoned in sick the next morning to work too. She knew that she needed to get on with life, but Liz told herself one more day before she has to actually act like an adult and get on with it. It was then she heard the ringing of her doorbell, she choose to ignore it holding the pillow over her head. They were persistent whoever they were when it persisted to ring. She stormed down the stair ready to give whoever at was the door abuse. She swung open the door only to find Don there, balancing himself on a cane.   
“Don,” she opened her mouth to continue but was speechless.

“Are you inviting me in or not?” Ressler smirked as he pushed aside her as he hobbled into the house. She closed the door behind her before she turned round to see Don before her. “You look like hell by the way!” 

She looked down at her entire, a tank top and grey jogging bottoms and she pretty sure that she had a bad case of bed hair. 

“Well, I wasn’t exactly expecting company,” said Liz as she tried to flatten her hair by running her hands over it. “What are you doing here?”

“I had a call form Meera who might have mentioned that you had taken a couple of sick day….” Ressler stopped when he saw the divorce papers lying on the table in front of him. He gaze switched from the papers and back to Liz. “I just wanting to check that you were alright,” he added in a softer voice, his gaze fixated on her. 

She didn’t know whether to smile at his kindness or cry but before she could make the decision for herself she felt the tears leaking down her cheeks. The next thing she knew Don had embraced her clumsily with one arm as the other still clutched his cane. She felt his warm breath against her neck, his enable arm stroking her back softly. That’s when she let it out, great big ugly sobs, she wrapped arms around him seeking the support that she desperately needed. They stayed like that until she felt him struggling to remain standing as his bad leg was obviously causing him a great deal of pain. 

Don settled himself down on her sofa, laying his cane next to him. “Do you need me to beat Tom up, seeing as Red isn’t here to take his role as protector?” Liz laughed for the first time, in days. She wasn’t sure whether it was from his facial expression the poker face or the seriousness in his threat itself. She curled up on the couch next to him, a smile returning to her face once more.  
….  
She wasn’t sure when it happened, she certainly never anticipated it, and in fact others seemed to know before she even acknowledged it herself. The fact was she was in love with Donald Ressler. After the day he came round to her apartment, they would have meals together, sometimes in restaurants, sometimes a take-away in her office in the middle of case or sometimes Liz would cook for him at her new apartment. After the divorce had gone through Liz had sold the house, it only contained memories and a future of a life that she was no longer living. It became a regular occurrence after Don had awkwardly asked her if she wanted to have dinner. He was always the gentlemen and never crossed that invisible line. Sometimes she wished it would cross the line, let his hand linger on her back for longer then was deemed appropriate but he was forever the gentleman.

On one particular meal, they had gone to a new restaurant that had opened just round the corner of her new apartment. At the end of the meal, he had insisted on walking her back to her apartment. After several drinks they both began to push the invisible boundaries of their relationship. They walked slowly, his hand grazed her slightly before she wrapped her hand in his, fingers interlocking. They continued to walk silently, hand in hand. They reached the door to her apartment before she finally let go of his hand. She wanted to invite him in but she didn’t have the confidence to do it. She turned to face him, willing him to make the move where she had failed. He opened his mouth before shutting it quickly and instead he leaned forward hesitantly and pressed a soft, chaste kiss to her lips. He whispered, “Good night, Liz” before turning and walking away from her. Liz stood routed to the spot, a small smile spread across her lips.   
….  
The next time they kissed was at work. It was the day after their first kiss when the boundaries of their platonic friendship had been obscured. This was the day that she finally told Don about Red’s phone call after he had left the country. She had seen Don argue usually at mass murderers and master criminals and sometimes even her in the beginning but she never thought that she would ever be on the receiving end of that again. 

“We’re partners,” shouted Ressler, his breath heavy and his face reddening. “You’re supposed to tell me the truth, Liz. This could have led us to catching Red, but instead you decide to withhold information from a federal investigation.”

“Well, what was I supposed to do?” Lizzie questioned, raising her voice with every word. “Admit to the FBI who still thinks that I am working with Red and that he just happens to phone me to have a chat? Really, Don?”

“Well, you don’t exactly help yourself there, Liz,” snirked Ressler, his hands immediately going to his hips retaining his usual defensive position.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Liz shouted, whilst walking towards until she was immediately standing in front of him. She could feel his warm breath on her face. She saw his eyes darken, his eyes fixated on hers until they dropped to her lips. The next thing she knew she was being pushed against the wall, his lips on hers, their tongues duelling frightening for dominance. Her arm was clinging to the back of his neck, fingers scrunching his fair hair. Don had the other arm pined slightly above her. She moaned heartily, and this encouraged Don to respond. He pulled her closer to him, if that was even possible and pressed kisses against the side of neck, sharply nicking her skin. She felt the pool of warmth spread through her body, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door. She sighed dramatically, shaking her hand in frustration before she turned to face the wall, as she straightening her clothing and her hair. Don quickly found the seat in front of the desk, she smirked when she saw the file covering his current dilemma. She quickly followed his lead, sitting from the desk across from him. 

She avoided his gaze and saw Meera enter the room before stopping and taking in the situation before her. Liz felt her penetrating gaze, she knew immediately that Meera know exactly what they had been doing moments before hand. Don mumbled something about the case, something about a ballistic report but the words were lost on Liz. Don stood up with his back turned against Meera and winked at her before making a sharp exit. Liz felt her cheeks redden quickly.

“Finally,” smirked Meera as she took the seat that Don had just recently vacated. 

“Finally,” questioned Liz as she raised her eyebrow quizzically.

“Well, if you want to keep it a secret, I would tell Don to change his shirt. It’s currently has a lipstick stain of the collar of it but I know that you would have no idea about how it got there.” Meera smirked as she left the room.   
…  
The first time the slept together was the day that Red returned to their lives. He appeared out of the blue turning up at her apartment in the middle of the night. She almost shot him, when he appeared out of the shadows. 

“Nice place you have here, Lizzie,” smirked Red. 

“God, Red, I almost shot you,” sighed Liz in disbelief as she lowered her gun. 

“Good to see you too…” 

“So you’re back? Liz questioned, whilst replacing the safety on her gun and placing on the table. 

“I’m back,” smirked Red.

The next day when Liz walked into the Post Office, she saw Red and Don actually talking in a civilised manner to each other. Well, she supposed the last time they did see each other Red had tried to save Don’s life, well until he threatened to kill Don if he didn’t give up the code. Maybe something had transpired between them, she would need to ask Don about that later. 

She walked over to Don and intercepted him before he could head back to each own desk. 

“What was Red wanting?” Liz asked him. Ressler took her by the arm guiding her to a private section out of view and out of ear-dropping range from the others.

“He wanted to thank me for looking out for you when he was away…” Don admitted hesitantly.

“You mean he knows about us?”

“Yes, that was followed by the whole “if you hurt her” speech,” smirked Don. 

“Shut up,” replied Liz as she hit him playfully.

“If I didn’t know any better, he is taking on the whole father-protector role in your life,” smirked Don. Liz feel silent at this, her own body stiffened.  
“Liz?” Don questioned with concern.

“I’ll talk about it tonight,” replied Liz as she placed a soft, yet lingering kiss on his lips as she walked away.   
…  
Later, that night after they had finished their meal. She broached the subject again. “I asked him, you know, I asked him if he was my biological father,” admitted Liz. Don reached across the table and took her hand in his for support.

“What did he say?” Don asked curiosity getting the better of him.

“He denied it,” sighed Liz.

“But you don’t believe him,” replied Don as he stroked the inner palm of her hand.

“Well, it would just make this, all this, make sense,” explained Liz. “I mean he just confuses me, if he isn’t my father then he definitely has some ties to my father. I have spent my whole life not knowing about my past, I just want certainty and to feel some sense of normality. I think that was why I was drawn to Tom, he embodied the one thing that I didn’t have. Normality. I nice domestic life, marriage, the dog, the kids, the white picket fence and the house. It’s funny that even after Tom, it’s still the only thing that I want.”

“And I can be a part of that, if that’s what you want,” Don added hesitantly with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

“I would like that,” said Liz as a smile spread across Lizzie’s face. She stood up from the table and pressed a promising kiss against Don’s lip pulling him up from the table towards her bedroom.   
…  
Here she was six months after that conversation, staring at the pregnancy test in her hand. PREGNANT. She and Don had talked about kids and that they would like it to be part of their future, but this seemed so quick, so unexpected and definitely not planned. But not unwelcome either, she still wanted to adopt at some time in the future. She had wanted to be a mother for so long, she was happy even if it came in a form that she didn’t anticipate. She was scared, elated, worried, happy… every emotion in the world. 

Don returned late from work that night, he had a briefing with Cooper. He dropped off the briefcase at the bottom of the stairs before entering the sitting room whilst untying his tie. Liz found it funny that when she first met him she thought that he was this frigid, uptight, emotionless man and now she knew that this could not be further from the truth.   
“How was the briefing?” Liz asked, as Don placed a kiss on her cheek before settling on the couch to her.

“The normal,” Don replied. “Just the case review and what about you? I did notice you sneak of early. Are still feeling ill?”

“You noticed,” smiled Liz lovingly.

“Of course, I did,” smiled Don. 

“I took a pregnancy test,” blurted out Liz unable to keep the truth form Don any longer. “I’m pregnant.”

“… o…Wh…. Pre… How??” She had never seen Don completely lost for words.

“Don, I think you know about the birds and the bees?” Liz laughed. 

“You are being serious?”

“Of course,” smiled Liz as she took his hand in her own. “I know this happened a lot sooner than we planned but are you happy?”

“Unbelievably so,” smiled Don lovingly. “Are you happy?”

“I couldn’t be happier.”


End file.
